10 days in charge, 626 runs: At 38, Virat Kohli is still employee of the year

There is something almost hypnotic about watching Virat Kohli bat these days. One fan put it more simply: “It was trans.”

The former Indian captain walks in, takes a few deliveries to understand the conditions, find his rhythm and then goes to work. Breaks come in, the opposition’s plans start to crumble, and before long he’s back in the dressing room, muffled by the crowd’s applause.

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There is rarely a sense of struggle. Even though the conditions are tough, he seems to have found a way around them. At 38, Kohli’s batting looks remarkably effortless and his latest trip to Auckland on the eve of his birthday was yet another example of how he has perfected the art.

A special challenge awaited India at Eden Park on Wednesday. New Zealand were bowled out for 185 on a surface that offered bounce and movement to the fast bowlers. India’s fast bowlers, a quartet of newcomers, have taken advantage of the conditions, but the batting will not be easy either.

Rohit Sharma departed for a six-ball duck. Shubman Gill had to work hard for his 37 off 56 deliveries, while Shreyas Iyer managed 15 after looking ugly against the short-pitch bowling. However, Kohli seemed to be operating on a different surface.

He scored 74 off just 51 deliveries, hitting 13 boundaries and a six. His innings was not a display of reckless hitting. It was a measured display by a batter who understood exactly what the conditions required and knew when to switch gears. 1st ODI Scorecard | Highlighting

Kyle Jamieson, a tall speedster, troubled him early. Kohli did not immediately try to control the New Zealand fast bowler. He negotiated the initial challenge, kept the scoreboard moving and ultimately made a statement by driving through the covers.

He was 29 off 27 deliveries before the second rain interruption of India’s chase. There was no panic in sight. He assessed the level, understood the bounce and worked his way into the shift. Then came the acceleration. He reached his half-century in just 35 balls.

Blair Tickner carried the brunt of it. Kohli pulled him into the stands in the 14th over before delivering perhaps the most telling passage of his innings two overs later. Tickner tried the short ball three times. Kohli sent all three deliveries for boundaries. The first two were pulled over midwicket. The third one went higher but Kohli drove the bounce beautifully and guided it to deep fine leg.

King lifts bat for brilliant 50 Watch #NZvIND 1st ODI LIVE on #SonySportsNetwork and #SonyLIV Sony LIV (@SonyLIV) November 4, 2026

It was the kind of sequence that made difficult viewing easier. Tickner had a plan. Kohli had an answer for every delivery.
And that’s increasingly what makes it so fascinating to watch.

10 WORKING DAYS EXTRAORDINARY RETURNS

If international cricket was an office, Virat Kohli would be that highly valued employee who doesn’t have to come every day but knows exactly when he is needed. He shows up, does the job, and leaves everyone wondering how he makes it look so easy.

It’s already November and Kohli has had just 10 working days at the international office this year. With a Test and T20I career behind him, the ODI format is now his only international assignment. Yet in those 10 appearances he made 626 runs at an average of 69.55 and a strike rate of 120.61. They have been with them for two hundred and four half centuries.

The numbers become even more interesting when you place them next to his returns in 2023. Kohli scored 1,377 runs in 27 ODIs that year at an average of 72.47 at a strike rate of 99.13. The average has barely budged in 2026, but the scoring rate is over 120. In other words, he’s achieving almost the same level of consistency while the runs on the board are significantly faster.

The average chart is a reminder of how consistently Kohli has performed at the highest level. His 2017 season produced 1,460 runs at 76.84, while 2018 was outstanding, with 1,202 runs at an average of 133.55. His 2023 numbers were another reminder of his ability to maintain a high level throughout the calendar year.

However, the strike-rate chart captures a more recent shift. From a score of 99.13 in 2023, Kohli moved to 120.61 in 2026. It’s not just that he continues to run. He’s looking for ways to score them faster without sacrificing the consistency that has defined his career.

Since retiring from Test cricket, he has amassed 1,002 runs in 16 ODIs at a strike rate of 115.17, with 30 sixes and 90 boundaries. The numbers suggest that the reduced international workload hasn’t made him any less influential when he enters the field.

And that’s what made Auckland so remarkable. Kohli has not played an international match for almost two months. He stepped onto a challenging surface, took stock, found his rhythm and produced an impressive 74 off 51 balls. No signs of rust, no extended setup time. Just another day at the office.

What’s not remarkable about Kohli is how often he appears already. It’s how little he seems to need to go when he does.

OTHER MATERIALS FOR KOHLI

Virat Kohli hits 13 boundaries and six in Auckland ODI (AP Photo)

Ravi Shastri, who has watched Kohli bat for years, was impressed with the quality of the innings in Auckland. He felt it was one of the best knocks the former Indian captain had played in tough conditions in recent years.

“And then, Virat Kohli. I’ve seen him bat for years and years. I think this is as good as he’s ever batted in these conditions. On this kind of track, not putting a foot wrong, playing with that kind of fluidity and authority is not easy. It’s as good an innings as he’s probably played in the last seven, eight, 10 years,” Shastri told Sony Sports on Wednesday.

It wasn’t like the surface suddenly became easier when Kohli walked in. Bounces and movements were available to the New Zealand bowlers throughout. The difference was in the way he responded. He didn’t let the conditions push him into playing shots he didn’t need to play. He trusted his judgement, waited for the right deliveries and gradually took control.

“You don’t have to get 150, 160 to say you are batting well. A little bit of 60, 70, 80 in these conditions is worth a hundred,” added Shastri.

It was an assessment of the quality of Kohli’s batting rather than just the number of shots he scored. In Auckland, the chase looked comfortable when the surface offered plenty of reasons not to.

Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris offered another explanation for the ease with which Kohli operates. Sytris focused on his ability to find the right tempo early in the innings and maintain it without looking rushed.

He used the analogy of driving a car to explain the way Kohli approaches batting.

“You don’t want to go too hard, you don’t want to put your car in fifth gear and try to keep it on the road. So you want to run one lower. He’s working in fourth gear, he gets into fourth gear so quickly at the start of his shift and just stays there,” Styris said.

It is an apt description of Kohli’s method. He doesn’t have to start the shift at full throttle. He gets into a rhythm, rotates his shot, finds gaps and keeps the scoreboard moving. When the opportunity arises, he knows when to step up. He can also dial it back when the conditions or match situation calls for it.

“One-day cricket is all about pace and he’s just got the ability to get where he wants to go. He can really push the envelope and put his foot down when he wants to and he can dial it back when he wants to,” Styris added.
Master of pace. Few could describe him better, right?

WORK BECAUSE OF STORAGE

Behind the apparent ease is of course a considerable amount of work. Kohli’s fitness and preparation have remained key to his career even as his international calendar has become less demanding.

Playing only one format at international level means fewer opportunities to build rhythm through regular matches. But the fitness, training and preparation that defined his career did not disappear as his workload decreased.

His running between the goals is another part of this preparation. Shastri pointed out how Kohli’s ability to convert singles into doubles and constantly rotate the strike puts constant pressure on the bowlers.

“He is such a good runner between the wickets that the bowler is always under pressure. He doesn’t get too many deliveries on the ball to Kohli. He hits you for a couple of boundaries, he doesn’t strike, take care of the other one. That’s it,” Shastri said.

Styris, meanwhile, was impressed with the composure with which Kohli went about his innings in Auckland.

“You can tell players with absolute class when they play with such composure. Everything slows down, they never look rushed, they never look rushed,” he said.

The ability to slow down the game while scoring quickly is perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Kohli’s batting at this stage. He can be aggressive without seeming reckless, patient without seeming passive, and domineering without seeming to force the issue.

Kohli spoke about the changing demands of ODI cricket. After his 55th ODI hundred, which came against the West Indies at home earlier this year, he explained that he is willing to take more risks as teams increasingly aim for totals of 340 or 350.

“The game is changing in such a way that especially if the conditions are fast and good and other teams are trying to push you to 340-350, we should be able to hit 350-360 as well,” he said.

“I’m very willing to take risks now because I know if I make runs there, we’ll get 350-360 easily.

At 38, Kohli has nothing left to prove. The records are extraordinary, the milestones keep coming and his place among the greatest ODI batsmen is certain. Still, he’s still looking for ways to change the game.

He plays just 10 ODIs in a calendar year, stays away from the international circuit for a few weeks, walks on a difficult surface and the chase looks like a routine day’s work. No rust to be seen, no frantic search for rhythm. He takes stock, finds his feet and takes over.

Perhaps that is what makes watching Kohli so fascinating at this stage of his career. Hard work remains invisible, execution looks instinctive, and the extraordinary began to seem ordinary.

For his fans, it can be trance. It’s just another day at the office for Kohli.

– The end